6 Types of Email Viruses and How to Avoid Them

Do you ever get those emails that look like they’re from a friend but turn out to be a virus? It seems like every other day, there’s a new one going around. We’ve all been there — you open the email, and suddenly, your computer is covered in pop-ups.

Email viruses are more common than you might think, as 94% of malware attack cases reach their target through email. Also, a significant number of computer pandemics in the past were spread through email channels. All the more reason to ensure your computer is protected.

Keep reading to learn more about email viruses, how they work, and some tips on how to stay safe online.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Email viruses are malware that spreads through email messages, often disguised as legitimate emails.
• Email viruses are delivered through various methods, including phishing emails, spam messages, malicious links, and infected attachments.
• Having antivirus software and adopting the best practices in avoiding malware infection will give you the best protection possible against email viruses.

What Is an Email Virus?

An email virus is a type of malware that spreads through email messages aiming to infiltrate and infect your device. These viruses can be difficult to detect because they often appear as legitimate emails. Once the recipient interacts with the email in an intended way — by opening it, clicking on a link, or downloading an attachment — the virus is unleashed and infects your computer.

Saying that an email virus can wreak havoc on your system is not an understatement. Email viruses can damage your computer, delete files, corrupt programs, and render it unusable. In some cases, they can also spread to other devices on the same network, which can cause irreparable damage.

💡Did You Know

The ILOVEYOU virus is considered one of the first global computer virus pandemics, with over $10 billion worth of damages and millions of devices infected. The virus (or worm) spread through email attachments, exploiting the old Windows feature of hiding file extensions. 

How Do Email Viruses Work?

Knowing how an email virus works will help you keep your devices secure, as well as teach you to spot an infected email from one that isn’t. The first thing you need to know is that the malicious code contained in the virus is programmed to spread through attachments or links that are part of the email message. However, a virus email will not infect your computer until you interact with it.

If the user interacts with a link or attachment in the infected email, the virus will execute and replicate itself in the system. In some cases, the virus will also try to spread to other devices on the same network.

Once triggered, the virus will perform malicious actions, from deleting files to displaying fake messages to corrupting programs. Some viruses are also programmed to be transmitted to everyone in the victim’s contact list, and they tend to spread rapidly.

How Are Viruses Delivered to Your Email?

Phishing is the most popular way of delivering viruses to users. It is a method where hackers send emails that look like they are coming from a legitimate source, such as your bank, utility company, or even Amazon. The email will ask you to click on a link or an attachment, and by doing so, the virus will be downloaded onto your device.

Malicious links can also deliver viruses. These are usually found in phishing emails, but they also might appear in legitimate emails that have been hacked. If you click on a malicious link, it will take you to a website infected with a virus.

Another way of spreading email viruses is via malicious attachments. Usually, these virus-infected files are disguised as something else, like a photo or document. If you download and open the attachment, the virus will infect your system.

Spam emails may also be dangerous. Spam or unsolicited emails sent in bulk often contain links or attachments infected with a virus. It’s important to be wary of any email you weren’t expecting to receive, especially if it contains links or attachments. In fact, statistics show that 94% of online attacks come from some form of a spam email virus.

Types of Email Viruses

Many types of viruses can be sent through email and cause different levels of damage. Some of the most common types are the following:

Boot Sector Virus

This type of email virus infects the boot sector of a computer’s hard drive. Boot sector viruses are among the most dangerous as they often require the victims to reformat their system fully.

Direct-Action Viruses

is one that only runs when a user executes a specific file or program. Since these malware emails act through the file it is attached to; once the file is opened, it will start spreading.

Resident Viruses

reside in a computer’s memory and can infect both files and programs. This type of email malware is extremely dangerous because it will continue to act even after the primary source of the infection is removed.

Multipartite Viruses

Multipartite viruses can infect both files and programs. This type of email virus acts like chameleons as they usually behave differently depending on the device’s operating system. The tricky thing about these viruses is that they may be distributed in many ways, including by overwriting files and the boot sector simultaneously.

Keyloggers

This email virus is also considered spyware, which aims to record everything you type on your keyboard. Once a keylogger gets a hold of your device, it monitors and logs the keys users strike on their keyboard. The virus collects personal and financial information, PINs and account numbers, credit card numbers, usernames, passwords, and other confidential data without the user’s knowledge.

Polymorphic Viruses

Polymorphic viruses are masters of disguise because they change their appearance as they reproduce to avoid detection. They often seem like harmless files and take a lot of time, months even, to be removed.

👍 Helpful Article

Spreading email viruses is becoming increasingly sophisticated, so relying on good antivirus software and a spam filtering service is the best way to ensure you and your precious data are safe. Check our article about the top spam filtering companies in the market and see what’s the best solution for you.

How to Protect Yourself from Email Viruses?

The advent of the computer virus has triggered significant changes in how antivirus programs combat computer viruses. Over the years, they have developed various ways to detect infections, malware, and other computer dangers. The most common approaches are the following:

Signature-Based Detection

This method detects malware email messages by examining the unique signatures or patterns associated with known viruses. Antivirus companies usually have a database of these signatures that they use to detect and block viruses. However, signature-based detection is not foolproof, as new viruses that do not have any signature or pattern associated with them are continuously being produced.

Heuristics

Heuristics is a method of detecting email viruses by looking at the code’s behavior in an email attachment. It can detect new or unknown viruses that don’t have a signature yet and is also used to uncover polymorphic viruses.

Real-Time Protection

This method detects viruses by scanning all files and programs accessed on a computer in real-time and is the automatic protection many anti-malware programs provide. With real-time protection, any new or unknown viruses will be caught and quarantined before they can cause any damage.

Sandbox Detection

A sandbox is a safe, isolated area on a computer where programs can be run without affecting the rest of the system. Antivirus engines using this method can determine whether a program is harmful depending on recorded actions. However, although this technique is useful for detecting new or unknown viruses, it is rather slow.

Data Mining Techniques

This method is relatively new. Data mining techniques detect email malware by analyzing patterns in email data. They rely on machine learning algorithms to find new or unknown viruses and pinpoint which emails are most likely malicious based on a file’s behavior.

Best Practices to Prevent Email Virus Infections

In this day and age, where personal data is worth its weight in gold, knowing how to avoid email viruses is more important than ever. Here are some best practices that you can follow to prevent email malware infections:

• Never open attachments from unknown senders.
• Only open email attachments from trusted sources — even if you know the sender; if you’re not expecting an attachment, don’t open it. If in doubt, try verifying the source.
• Do not open any executable files in email attachments — remember that attackers frequently use two extensions on infected files to camouflage them.
• Be cautious of links embedded in emails — hover over links to see where they will take you before you click on them. If the URL looks suspicious, don’t click on it.
• Never download email attachments from untrustworthy websites — only download attachments from websites you trust.
• Keep your email client, OS, and browser up-to-date and protected.
• Ensure the antivirus software you’ve installed is running properly and is up to date.
• If you don’t know which emails or attachments are safe to open, a good idea would be to get a text preview in your email service — content previews allow you to get a sneak peek at the content of an email without having to open it.
• Back up your data regularly — this way, if you get infected by a virus, you will not lose all your important data.

By following these best practices, you can protect yourself from hackers trying to send viruses through email. However, know that even if you are careful, there is always a chance that you could still get infected. That is why having a good antivirus program on your computer is important. If you own an enterprise, hiring a cybersecurity consulting firm is a great option.

Conclusion

Email viruses have been around since the early days of email. They come in many different shapes and sizes with one goal — to infect your computer and steal your data. Although using antivirus software is a good way to protect yourself, it is not foolproof. 

The tips in this article will help you be more vigilant about the emails you open and the links you click on. Ultimately, having antivirus software and adopting the best practices in avoiding email virus infection will give you the best protection possible.

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By Maja Josifovska